Remains of Man Who Scoffed at Gator Found Inside One

It may now be a little safer to scoff at the "No Swimming: Alligators" sign at Burkart's Marina in Orange, Texas: An 11-foot alligator was shot dead and dumped at the marina yesterday, and officials have confirmed that it's the same one that killed 28-year-old Tommie Woodward last week, KPRC reports. A marina customer who calls himself "Bear" said he killed the alligator with a shotgun after using a chicken as bait, reports the Houston Chronicle. "He had to go. That's what happens when you kill someone," says Bear, who took off in a boat when game wardens arrived.

Texas Parks and Wildlife officials say wardens spent the weekend looking for the alligator, but nobody else was authorized to shoot it and its killer could be fined $500 for illegal harvesting of wildlife, Fox 25 reports. Woodward—who said "F--- the alligators" when he was warned to stay out of the water—was the first person killed by a gator in Texas in nearly 200 years, and officials say parts of his body were found in the throat of the one that was shot. His body has been returned to his family in St. Louis, and officials say they'll also send the parts found in the alligator to his loved ones, KPRC reports. (More alligator stories.)